source: doc/intro.txt @ 507d5aa

barnowl_perlaimdebianowlrelease-1.10release-1.4release-1.5release-1.6release-1.7release-1.8release-1.9
Last change on this file since 507d5aa was 61d27fb, checked in by Erik Nygren <nygren@mit.edu>, 22 years ago
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2$Id$
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4
5Owl is a tty, curses-based zephyr client.  This is a quick guide to
6learning how to use it.
7
8====================
9OVERVIEW OF FEATURES
10====================
11o) As a tty client it can be run over telnet, rlogin or text ssh sessions
12
13o) It uses a perl configuration file for setting preferences and
14   formatting messages
15
16o) emacs style editing of messages
17
18o) It is easy to use and runs without a configfile.
19
20o) There will future support for AIM and ICQ
21
22o) There will be future support for advanced sorting of messages
23
24===============
25GETTING STARTED
26===============
27Owl will run happily without a configfile, so to get started just run
28it.  Owl will take over the terminal window it's started in.
29
30The Screen
31----------
32There are three main parts to the screen.  The large top portion of
33the screen is where zephyrs are displayed.  The status bar separates
34this area from the one below and displays some status information.
35The space below that is used to type in messages and is also used by
36owl to give warnings and information to the user.
37
38Sending a Zephyr
39----------------
40To send a zephyr to yourself hit the 'z' key.  This will start a
41zwrite command, which you can finish by typing the name of the user
42you wish to send to, followed by enter.  Begin typing your message.
43You will notice that most emacs-style editing is available.  When you
44are ready to send type Control-D.  If you wish to cancel type
45Control-C.
46
47If instead of a user you wish to send to class/instance simply supply
48-c and -i arguments to the zwrite command.
49
50Manipulating Messages
51---------------------
52When there are one or more zephyrs in the message window, one of them
53will be the 'current' message.  Owl will indicate which one it is with
54an arrow to the left of the message.  The following keys will move you
55between messages
56
57        n               move to the next non-deleted message
58        p               move to the previous non-deleted message
59        C-n , down      move to the next message
60        C-p , up        move to the previous message
61        <               move to the first message
62        >               move to the last message
63        right           scroll the screen to the right
64        left            scroll the screen to the left
65        P               move to the next personal message
66        M-P             move to the previous personal message
67        T               Mark all 'trash' messages for deletion
68
69When you are ready to delete a message you can mark it for deletion
70and a 'D' will appear to the left of the message.  Messages will not
71actually be removed until you perform an expunge.
72
73        d               mark a message for deletion
74        u               unmark a message for deletion
75        x               expunge deleted messages
76        T               mark all automated messages for deletion
77
78If you would like to respond to a zephyr sent to you there is a reply
79shortcut.  This will reply to a personal zephyr, or if the zephyr is
80sent to a zephyr class it will reply to the zephyr class.
81
82        r               reply to a zephyr
83
84You can scroll within the current message using:
85
86        SPACE           page down
87        b               page up
88        RETURN          line down
89        BACKSPACE       line up
90
91The pointer will change to indicate that the message is not starting
92at the first line.
93
94Two other keys that relate to the current message:
95
96        i               print detailed information about the message
97        w               instruct netscape to visit a URL in the message
98
99
100Other Functions
101----------------
102Some other funcions that can be performed with a single keystroke:
103
104        A               toggle zaway
105        h               print the help screen
106        C-l             refresh and resize the screen
107        C-z             suspend
108
109Command Mode
110------------
111Owl has a command mode where you can enter more detailed commands for
112owl to process.  To enter command mode:
113
114        :               begin command mode
115
116Owl will give you a command prompt and you can begin typing your
117command.  Type Enter to execute the command, Control-C to cancel.
118Currently support commands are:
119
120        quit , exit     exit owl
121        zwrite          send a zephyr
122        reply           reply to the current zephyr
123        set             set a variable
124        print           print a variable
125        zlog [in|out]   send a login or logout message
126        version         print the owl version number
127        subscribe       subscribe to a class, instance, recipient
128        unsubscribe     unsubscribe from a class, instance, recipient
129        unsuball        unsubscribe from all messagse
130        getsubs         print a list of current subscriptions
131        zlocate         locate a user
132        info            print detailed information about a message
133        help            print the help screen
134        next            move to the next message
135        prev            move to the previous message
136        next-notdel     move to the next non-deleted message
137        prev-notdel     move to the previous not-deleted message
138        expunge         expunge messages marked for deletion
139        first           move to the first message
140        last            move to the last message
141        resize          resize owl to the current window
142        suspend         suspend owl
143        exec            run a shell command
144        zaway [on|off|<msg>]  Turn zaway on, off, or set the message
145        load-subs       load subscriptions from a file
146        status          print info about owl status
147        about           print info about owl
148
149Variables
150---------
151The 'set' and 'print' commands let set and print the values of owl
152variables.  The currently supported variables are these:
153
154Variables:                                                                                       
155     name            settings  default      meaning                                                 
156     --------------- --------  -------      -------                                                 
157     appendtosepbar  <string>            string to append to the end of the sepbar               
158     bell            on,off    on        enable / disable the terminal bell                       
159     burningears     on,off    off       [NOT YET IMPLEMENTED] beep on messages matching patterns
160     classlogging    on,off    off       turn class logging on or off                             
161     classpath       <path>    ~/zlog/class
162                                         path for logging class zephyrs                           
163     debug           on,off    on        whether debugging is enabled                             
164     debug_file      <path>    /var/tmp/owldebug
165                                         path for logging debug messages when debugging is enabled
166     disable-ctrl-d  on,off    off       don't send zephyrs on C-d                               
167                                                                                                 
168     displayoutgoing on,off    on        display outgoing messages                               
169     logging         on,off    off       turn personal logging on or off                         
170     loginsubs       on,off    on        load logins from .anyone on startup                     
171     logpath         <path>    ~/zlog/people
172                                         path for logging personal zephyrs                       
173     personalbell    on,off    off       ring the terminal bell when personal messages are receive
174     rxping          on,off    off       display received pings                                   
175     shutdownlogout  on,off    on        send a logout message when owl exits                     
176     startuplogin    on,off    on        send a login message when owl starts                     
177     summarymode     on,off    off       [NOT YET IMPLEMENTED]                                   
178     txping          on,off    on        send pings                                               
179     typewinsize     int > 0   8         number of lines in the typing window                     
180     webbrowser  none,netscape,galeon netscape web browser to use to launch URLs             
181     zaway_msg         <string>  "I'm sorry..."
182                                           current zaway msg for responding to zephyrs when away   
183     zaway_msg_default <string>  "I'm sorry..."
184                                           default zaway msg for responding to zephyrs when away 
185     zsig              <string>            zephyr signature                                         
186     zsigproc          <path>    <null>    name of a program to run that will generate zsigs       
187
188
189================
190THE CONFIG FILE
191================
192
193*** WARNING: This interface may change substantially in the near future ***
194
195This file is interpreted by the perl interpreter.
196If you wish to execute an owl command use the
197function owl::command().  i.e.
198
199     owl::command("set zsigproc \"/mit/kretch/bin/getzsig foo\"");
200
201will set the owl variable zsigproc.  Note that commands will currently
202be executed in order after the called configuration subroutine exits.
203
204Subroutines created with the names below will be executed at the
205specified times:
206
207    subroutine name    properties
208    ---------------    ----------
209    owl::startup()     run when owl first starts
210    owl::shutdown()    run when owl exits
211    owl::format_msg()  run when a new message arrives, the return
212                          value is used to display the message on the
213                          screen
214    owl::receive_msg() run when a message is received, and after
215                       it has been added to the message list
216
217
218The following variables will be set each time a message is recevied:
219
220    $owl::class, $owl::instance, $owl::recipient,
221    $owl::sender, $owl::opcode, $owl::zsig,
222    $owl::msg, $owl::time, $owl::host, @owl::fields, $owl::id
223
224The "appendtosepbar" variable may be set in owl::format_msg()
225to set text to be appended to sepbar that separates the received
226message list from the edit window.
227
228
229===================
230FURTHER INFORMATION
231===================
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